


A Little Secret

by Liza_Taylor



Series: Promptober 2020-Sylbern/Sylvadetta Edition [14]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Crests (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), F/M, Gen, Horns, October Prompt Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:02:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27008533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liza_Taylor/pseuds/Liza_Taylor
Summary: For some reason Bernie won't let Sylvain touch the top of her head.Prompt: Horns
Relationships: Sylvain Jose Gautier & Bernadetta von Varley, Sylvain Jose Gautier/Bernadetta von Varley
Series: Promptober 2020-Sylbern/Sylvadetta Edition [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947940
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	A Little Secret

Sylvain was used to a lot of Bernie’s quirks but one thing he was still confused about was her not letting him touch her hair.

It wasn’t like her hair was completely off limits, sometimes she would lean against him, her head resting on his shoulder and if he was pushing her hair behind an ear she was okay with that too. It seemed to be the crown of her head that gave issue. Whenever he attempted to kiss her there or give her a headpat or even just a simpler run his fingers through her hair, she would quickly pull away, panic in her eyes, an excuse falling off her tongue. It was never a good one but Sylvain didn’t want to push her if she was so distressed about it so he dropped it every time.

It didn’t stop him from wondering though.

One day they were sitting in her bed, Sylvain’s arm around her as he read the latest thing she wrote. An epic tale of a crime fighting prince and princess duo. It was unique, the prince supporting with magic and the princess fought with a sword. All the characters were unique and quirky and it was such a fun story to read.

Finishing the section, he glanced down at Bernie, ready to shower her in compliments when he noticed her eyes were closed, her breathing slowed. No way, she had fallen asleep on him!? This was the first time it ever happened! She always seemed to have her guard up slightly with him that just seeing her so relaxed and peaceful, it was cute!

Without thinking, he leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss at the crown of her head.

It was as if a shock passed through Bernie, her eyes suddenly opening and she scrambled away from Sylvain so fast he was scared she was going to fall off the bed. Was she still in the midst of a dream? “Bernie? Hey, it’s just me, it’s okay, you’re in your room.” He reached out but she backed up to the other end of the bed, her hands over her head, eyes in wide horror.

“You kissed me on my head,” she whispered.

“Uh yeah. Sorry, it was just a spur of the moment thing.” He mentally kicked himself for doing something like that without asking her. “I’m really sorry Bernie, I shouldn’t have done that, I know you don’t like me touching the top of your head.” Crap, what if it was a trauma related to what her dad did to her? What if he had brought up bad flashbacks for her? Damn it, why was he such a crappy person?

She was silent for a moment, her hands still on top of her head. He didn’t know why but it looked like she was looking for something in his expression. “Did you feel them?”

“Feel what?” He stared at her blankly.

“Oh you didn’t.” She sighed and dropped her hands.

Sylvain stared at her head, not really sure what he was seeing. Since she had pushed down her hair, he thought he could make out something white in her hair. Was it lint? “Bernie, you have a little something…” He gestured to the spot in question.

The way her eyes widened in panic and her hands went to the top of her head was almost alarming. “Bernie, you are so stupid, you shouldn’t have done that…” She ruffled her hair.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, shifting closer to her.

“No, I’m not!” She grabbed a fistful of her hair and was pulling on them so hard he was worried that she was going to rip out her hair.

“Bernie, it’s okay, you’re okay, you’re fine.” He gently grabbed her hands and slowly pried her fingers from her hair.

“No, it’s not fine!” she said in a panic. “You saw it!”

“I saw it? What’s it?”

Bernie froze. “Oh no, you didn’t? Then what I said…oh no Bernie, you really did it now!”

Sylvain didn’t know what to say or do, he couldn’t tell why she was freaking out. Was this all because he kissed her on the top of her head? No, it felt like it was more than that. It was when he mentioned the lint in her hair it really sent her into a panic.

“Bernie, really, tell me what’s wrong please.” He rubbed his thumbs along her knuckles, trying to give her any sort of comfort to ground her in the present. “What did I do wrong?”

“You…I…you didn’t do anything wrong,” she whispered. “It’s me….I’m weird.”

“You aren’t weird Bernie.”

“No, I am Sylvain. I really am.”

He had no idea what he could say to change her mind. He wasn’t even sure what she was distressed about right now. “Bernie, whatever your dad said about you, you aren’t weird. You are you Bernie and nothing will change that.” He put an arm around her shoulders, trying to let his warmth pass into her.

“But this is…you won’t…you’ll hate it.”

“I will hate nothing about you, I promise.” He had the urge to brush his fingers through her hair but he fought against it.

She bit her lip and pulled away from Sylvain, her fingers playing with the hem of her skirt. “I know I should probably tell you, it isn’t something I could hide from you forever but…”

Sylvain leaned forward slightly and let her gain her courage on heir own time.

“My crest….it has a side effect.”

“Oh, like how Dimitri has super strength?”

“Something like that.”

“Don’t tell me you’re actually super strong Bernie! I mean, if you want to bench press me I’m not opposed to that, in fact it would probably be sort of hot.”

It managed to get a small smile out of her and a slight roll of the eyes. “No, it’s something more, physical than that.” She pushed back the hair on top of her head and Sylvain could see two round white nubs poking out of the top of her skull.

“What?”

“I have…horns,” she whispered like it was a dirty secret.

“Horns?” he repeated, staring at the nubs.

“I file them down,” she stammered. “My father says it’s unbecoming of a Varley to have them.”

Damn her father. “Well I think they’re cute, just like you.”

Bernie blinked slowly and stared at him shock and then at the ground. “You’re just saying that.”

“Not at all. You are you Bernie and nothing will change that.” He lifted his hands and hesitated before he touched the top of her head. “Can I? It won’t hurt right?”

A slight shake of the head. “It won’t.”

He gently ran his fingers along the nubs. They were hard, almost bone-like, the edges covered in ridges, which he assumed was from her filing them. He pulled his hands away and looked into her worried eyes. “Nope, I think nothing different of you, you’re still the same cute Bernie I know and love.”

She blushed and looked down. “You’re just saying that Sylvian.”

“No I’m not and you know it.” He put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you for telling me Bernie. And I hope one day you’ll be okay with those horns of yours. I’m curious to see what they would be like if they’re full grown. Of course that’s up to you, if you want to keep filing them down that’s fine too.”

“Thanks Sylvian…” She whispered before leaning into him.

***

Five years and now he was back at Garreg Mach for a war. Sylvain let out a long sigh as he walked around the campus, seeing what had changed in that timeframe. It had been a long time since he had contact with anyone not from Faerghus and seeing how everyone changed in that timeframe was surprising to say in the least.

Of course there was one person he wanted to see in particular. He had not seen her in five years, the only correspondence was exchanging letters back and forth. Their plan was to meet in front of the greenhouse and he slowed to a stop, seeing someone standing there. A girl a little taller than he remembered, her fluffy hair tamed. A set of beautiful spiraling dragon horns in pure white came out of the top of her head, about a foot in length.

She turned, her gray eyes sparkling. “Sylvain.”

Sylvain couldn’t help his dorky grin as he regarded her. “Bernie. Your horns…”

“Are they…okay?” She reached up to touch them. “It’s not weird?”

“Nope, not at all,” he said as he gave her a hug. “Although it’s going to make us sleeping together a little interesting but we’ll figure it out.”

“Sylvain!”

“What! You have to think about those things! The ends are sharp right? I need to make sure I don’t poke an eye out.”

She let out a long sigh and shook her head. Sylvain grinned. “The professor doesn’t need us until later so you want to chat and catch up for a bit?”

“Sure,” she said with a smile.


End file.
